Reset Windows 2000 admin password?

Donna H. writes:

" I have windows 2000 / NT. My administrative password timed out or somehow expired, and now I can't use any of the Administration computer management. How can I reset my Admin password? Thank you for reading this and any help is appreciated. "

My response:

I visited win2000mag.net and found instructions on how to use a program called Ntpasswd. The instructions given below are essentially verbatim, but have been changed slightly to "newbie speak" so it is easier to follow.

http://www.win2000mag.net

You can use Peter Nordahl's Ntpasswd tool to reset the administrator's password. Be warned, however, as the material discussed on this site is highly technical.

In short, you can follow these steps:

1. Download bd010114.zip and rawwrite2.zip from Nordahl's Web site.
    
2. Unzip the files to the same folder.
    
3. Open an MS DOS session* and change (CD) to the folder you unzipped your files to. Run rawwrite2.exe, and at the prompt for an image, type in bd010114.bin. Example: If you unzipped your files to c:\downloads\rawwrite_and_bd, the commands in DOS would be:
   
   C:\> C:
   C:\> cd \downloads\rawwrite_and_bd
   C:\> rawwrite2.exe
   
   When the program runs, type in: bd010114.bin. Note that the C:\> above is a command prompt and not something you actually type in.
    
4. Put a blank 3.5" disk in your disk drive, and specify its drive letter (usually A: drive) when the Rawwrite2 program prompts you. Rawwrite2 will create a Linux (Operating System) boot disk on that blank disk. The boot disk contains a program called 'Ntpasswd'.
    
5. Put the disk in your locked-out Win2K Pro computer, and reboot. Linux will load and then Ntpasswd starts. Ntpasswd guides you through the steps to reset the Administrator account password to a password of your choice. When you're finished, remove the disk and reboot. You should now be able to log on with the new password.

Good luck!